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Yes I said it! I will say it again, Prenatal Vitamins Supplements are unnecessary. The doctors who are paid commission on what they prescribe to patients tell all pregnant women that they are at risk for not taking prenatal vitamins because of them being susceptible to being vitamin deficient with a growing being inside of them taking all of their nutrients but this is false. What the majority, including scientists, fail to discern in this day and age is the “magnitudes of benefits we get from multiple complexities of whole food’s nutrients. “In order to thrive, our bodies require optimum levels of nutrients, naturally occurring in food and not maximum levels of nutrients that are chemically isolated or synthetically produced by the industry.” (Holmekler) Food is our medicine. In a money-hungry society we are rarely told to halt the consumption of soda, chips, fast-food, grease and oil cooked foods, colored and artificially as well as highly processed foods especially during pregnancy. Pregnant women are given false expectations that if they take prenatal vitamins everyday they are exempt from eating healthy. We have to snap out of this mind-set.

Before I share Holmekler’s article “Vitamin Poisoning: Are We Destroying Our Health with Hi-Potency Synthetic Vitamins?”, I would like to add that I am a soon to be mother and am 21-weeks pregnant I have not taken prenatal vitamins except for a few days in my first trimester. I stopped taking them because they would irritate my sensitive digestive system and no I do not mean nausea and “morning sickness”. I personally feel that me and my baby do not need them we do not show signs of any vitamin deficiency and maintain a healthy diet that includes a variety of whole foods. I would like to alleviate the image that someone is a bad mother because they choose not to take synthetic prenatal vitamins.

“Vitamins are readily available and sold in many different formulations, they’re also added to common foods such as dairy, cereals, nutritional shakes and baking flour. We were taught to believe that vitamin supplements are beneficial and indeed under certain circumstances, such as with immuno deficiency diseases, vitamin supplementation regiments have shown to be helpful in relieving symptoms similar to drug administration. What we haven’t been told is that in large dosages, as commonly prescribed by physicians or recommended by vitamin manufacturers, vitamins can become overwhelmingly toxic and the same vitamin treatment that potentially benefit sick individuals may actually devastate healthy individuals. To understand how vitamin poisoning occurs, we need to examine the three following issues: first, why so many of us become vitamin junkies? Second, how this very compulsive public need to shove in megadosages of vitamins has been exploited by the vitamin industry? And third, what are the real effects of vitamin supplementation on our cells, tissues and overall health?

The need to take vitamin supplements

“There is a widely held perception that human diseases are largely caused by vitamin deficiencies and therefore, supplementation with megadosages of vitamins can be beneficial in preventing disease. This view is not fully supported by medical evidence, nonetheless it is still propagated and has been explored by commercial interests such as for example, the inclusion of vitamin C in cold remedies, the addition of vitamin A and D to milk products, the enrichment of oils and margarines with vitamin E, the addition of vitamins to nutritional shakes and the non-regulated sales of vitamin A and E supplements.

“There are plenty of articles that encourage megadosage vitamin treatment. Generally speaking, virtually all available information on vitamin supplementation (as provided by supplement companies) attack the minimum recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamins as too low. Regardless to the undeniable evidence that the human body is not programmed to utilize vitamins in maximum potencies, but rather in optimum potencies (sometimes below the minimum RDA), the industry wants you to believe that high potencies of vitamins yield better results.

“We have been told repeatedly that vitamin overload such as with vitamin C or vitamin E isn’t just beneficial in preventing the common cold, but also effective in killing cancer cells, chelating heavy metals, curing blood sugar disorders and counteracting aging. Our society has been trained to think in military terms when dealing with health issues. We habitually use terms such as “fighting illness”, or “burning fat”. It is perhaps understandable that there is a widely held perception that high potency vitamins are more powerful with a stronger capacity to “kill” disease than low potency vitamins. Most people today truly believe that high potency vitamins are superior to low potency vitamins regardless to how they’re made – whether they’re synthetically produced from chemicals or naturally extracted from food sources. Consequently, we have been becoming addicts to vitamin megadosages and the vast majority of us are not even aware of this. As you’ll soon see, vitamin abuse is a serious issue that requires very close attention.

Can we do well without using vitamin supplements?

“Apparently, in today’s world it’s virtually impossible to do well without nutritional supplements. Supplementation often presents the only practical means to grant an adequate intake of nutrients. Due to soil depletion, industrial food processing, storage conditions and often low accessibility to fresh nutrient-dense food, it becomes imperative to supplement our diet with vitamins and other essential nutrients which are missing in our food. And the people who need supplementation most, are those under an increased oxidative stress including people routinely engaged in intense physical training, people with immuno-deficiency diseases, and the elderly. Antioxidant nutrients have shown to help lower the metabolic stress caused by exercise or disease and thus protect cells and tissues from oxidative damage.

“Nonetheless, we need to know how to make the right choices. Not all nutritional supplements are as beneficial as claimed and an excess of any substance including vitamins can be potentially as harmful as its deficiency. We’ll continue with this soon, but for now let’s examine the theory behind the usage of synthetic vitamins.

The orthomolecular theory

“There is a growing school of nutritionists called orthomolecularists who argue that there is no difference between a “synthetic” and a “natural” vitamin molecule. According to this theory, biologically identical (bioidentical) molecules are indistinguishable from those synthesized by plants or animals. The orthomolecular theory (ortho-right) claims that we must support our bodies with the “right molecules” that are required to sustain life and that receptors on the surface of animal cells control the uptake of individual molecules regardless of how or why these molecules appear in the blood stream… Though lacking scientific substantiation, this theory has been adapted by medical authorities who recommend synthetic vitamin supplements, containing large concentrations of isolated vitamin molecules to serve as alternative medicine.

“Millions of people today are taking vitamin supplements as the only means to prevent nutritional deficiencies, believing that it actually compensates for poor eating habits and bad diets. The highest pound-to-pound vitamin consumers are fitness advocates, athletes, the sick and the elderly, who have been told that their vitamin requirements are higher than normal and therefore require larger dosages. What remains largely overlooked is one single fact: there is no evidence that people who take vitamin supplements are doing better than those who don’t. In fact, there are some indications that vitamin supplementation may actually shorten life span and may even increase cancer probability, such as in the case of synthetic vitamin E and beta carotene. As you’ll soon see, the evidence shows that vitamin supplements can become toxic to the body in the following circumstances:

– if they’re synthetically produced

– if taken in overly high unnatural dosages.

Poisonous vitamins

“Up until recently, it has been commonly assumed that only fat soluble vitamins can potentially become toxic. Since fat soluble vitamins A, E, D, and K can be stored by the body and accumulate in overly high toxic levels when taken in large dosages, it has been recommended to be cautious with their intake, a recommendation which nevertheless has been ignored by vitamin manufacturers who keep selling formulas with high contents of fat soluble vitamins.

“Vitamin poisoning is not a simple problem. The issue involves lots of misinformation and misunderstanding. The information provided by vitamin manufacturers do not always reveal the truth, certainly not the whole truth. People today are easily fooled to believe that it’s worth popping pills that can yield hundreds of times greater vitamin concentration than real food. What the public hasn’t been fully aware of is that the human species evolved to beneficially utilize nutrients only as they naturally occur in food and not in any other way.

“The early human diet was largely vegetarian, humans have adapted to utilize nutrients and vitamins from plant sources in the safest, most efficient way and at exactly the right concentrations needed for the body’s metabolic needs. Human biology is undoubtedly vegetarian-oriented. We all carry an inherent enzymatic capacity to convert complex plant nutrients into bioactive compounds, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, all of which are utilized by the body through a tightly feedback control. This is how we evolved to be. We can safely utilize natural plant carotenes into vitamin A, we can safely optimize our vitamin D from germs and seeds as well as through exposure to UV sunlight and we can safely utilize vitamin E from eating raw nuts and seeds, without any risk of toxicity.

“However, as great as our capacity to utilize natural nutrients from food is, we are lacking the capacity to properly utilize synthetic nutrients derived from chemical processing. The human body can’t regulate the absorption of synthetic vitamins, neither can it optimize their levels. Here is what likely occurs when synthetic vitamins are administered. The highly bioactive, chemically processed vitamin molecules bypass the body’s natural enzymatic pathways, giving the body the signal that its vitamin pool is fully loaded. After synthetic vitamin administration, the body is tricked to believe that it doesn’t need to utilize more of the same nutrients from food. Consequently, the enzymes that normally utilize complex plant nutrients into vitamin molecules are inhibited and the body is losing its ability to fully assimilate food’s nutrients, as well as the capacity to regulate and optimize healthy vitamin concentrations. In reality, synthetic vitamins are received by the body as drugs and like all drugs, they can potentially disrupt normal metabolic functions often with devastating side effects.

Just about everyone has heard the old adage, “eating for two”, which isn’t entirely correct. Pregnant women an their little babies need micronutrients an macronutrients. Micronutrients are dietary components such as vitamins and minerals that are only required in small amounts. Macronutrients are nutrients that provide calories or energy such as carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Pregnant women need to consume both nutrients on a daily basis.

And I remind you “it’s not how much iron you consume, it’s how you absorb it.”

How you can absorb more iron?

The less you eat the better it is absorbed; when consuming higher amounts of iron at one time the percentage that our bodies absorb is actually longer than when meals contain only a few milligrams. Eating smaller amounts throughout the day is a great way to increase absorption.

Origin and Etymology of “Lunacy”:

1540s, “condition of being a lunatic,” formed irregularly in English from lunatic (q.v.) + -cy. Originally in reference to intermittent periods of insanity, such as were believed to be triggered by the moon’s cycle. The Old English equivalent was monaðseocnes “month-sickness.” In later legal use, any unsoundness of mind sufficient to render one incapable of civil transactions or management of one’s affairs. Weakened figurative sense “act of madness or folly” is from 1580s.

late 13c., “affected with periodic insanity, dependent on the changes of the moon,” from Old French lunatique, lunage “insane,” or directly from Late Latin lunaticus “moon-struck,” from Latin luna “moon” (see Luna). Compare Old English monseoc “lunatic,” literally “moon-sick;” Middle High German lune “humor, temper, mood, whim, fancy” (German Laune), from Latin luna. Compare also New Testament Greek seleniazomai “be epileptic,” from selene “moon.” Lunatic fringe (1913) apparently was coined by U.S. politician Theodore Roosevelt.

Ocean water is usually kept to an equal level throughout the planet. However, during the full and new moon, the moon’s gravity pulls the ocean waters up closer to her causing higher tides than would during the first or last quarter phase. The moon evolves around our planet which has an effect on all waters, creating higher tides. And because of a force greater than the moon’s gravity called centrifugal force, ocean water on the opposite side, which the moon isn’t facing, bulges out also creating higher tides. Therefore, no matter what, the waters will rise whether its gravity’s pulling force or centrifugal pushing force during the full or new moon. Let’s us not dismiss the Sun who has a gravity pull effect on the oceans as well yet has less effect because of its greater distance from Earth. The motion of the oceans shall always be referred to as gravity, an this can be from the moon and sun.

The moon, like the Earth, is on its own axis which it rotates on. When the moon appears further away on its axis this is because it is further away and is called Apogee, in contrast, when the moon is closer to earth this is called Perigee. The perigee moon typically appears 14% closer. This can be caught by the naked eye as soon as the moon rises; though once the moon is at its highest peak in the sky can appear further than its lowest peak. The terms apogee and perigee are scarcely given credit for the effect on the water planet. The perigean full moon (up to 30% closer to earth), or supermoon, has a larger effect on tides than apogean moon which is further away on it’s axis.

So you may be pondering about what the moon’s distance and phase has to do with lunacy; well I will get right to that. Our satellite has effect on the planet but what about the creatures whom reside on it? Humans are made up of approximately 80% liquid, perhaps even more. And for those of you informed about astrology, we know that water signs rule over the emotions. If the moon causes greater tides on our home, what about our bodies? As humans, once we seek more of ourselves we find out our connection to the universe. As so above so below. That is, the moon has a psychological effect on creatures who let its energy flow without being conscious of its power.

During this phase of the moon when the moon has reflected all of the sunlight on its surface, we are more apt to be full of ego, aggressive, “macho”, and full of lunar energy. This is why so many people butt heads, crime rates are higher, and some just seem to have lost their mind completely. We have to balance this energy in order to reach our greatest potential. It is a time to release as well as reflection fully on oneself and not the actions of others and to remain calm and steady when conversing with the public because someone will be “testing” out your waters to see how high your tides go. When alone this powerful energy should be intended on the direction in your path you choose to go. When there is tension building between you and another entity, release that energy. Emotions are very temporary; they come and go and so does the moons phases or the tides in the ocean.

“Mantra: I am grateful for all that I have received and will carry what I have learned into my future.

2) Instead of picking out every little thing you dislike or wished was a possibility, point out all the things you’re thankful for, the things that make you laugh, and think about anything being possible in this versatile world without limitations. Dream about things you want and the comfort you will experience and never wish negativity upon others. We are all here to learn through our experiences, realize most things are tests which one has to pass.